Dennis Rader – The BTK Killer

On Friday, February 25, 2005 suspected BTK Strangler, Dennis Lynn Rader, was arrested in Park City, Kansas and later charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. The day following his arrest Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams announced in a press conference, “the bottom line is that BTK has been arrested.”

Rader Leaves the Air Force:

After the Air Force he returned home and began working on obtaining his college degree. He first attended Butler County Community College in El Dorado then transferred to Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina. In the fall of 1973 he returned to Wichita State University where in 1979 he graduated with a major in Administration of Justice.

A Work History With A Common Thread – Access:

While at Wichita State he worked part time in the meat department at an IGA in Park City.

From 1970 to 1973 he was an assembler at the Coleman Company, assembling camping gear and equipment.

From November 1974 to July 1988 he worked for a home security company, ADT Security Services, where he had access to homes as an installation manager. It has also been noted that the business increased as community fear of the BTK killer increased.

From 1990 until his arrest in 2005, Rader was a supervisor of the Compliance Department at Park City, a two-maned, multi-functional department in charge of “animal control, housing problems, zoning, general permit enforcement and a variety of nuisance cases.” His performance in his position was described as “overzealous and extremely strict” by neighbors.

He also served as a census field operations supervisor in 1989.

Active in Church and a Club Scout Leader:

Radar married Paula Dietz in May, 1971 and had two children after the murders began. They had a son in 1975 and a daughter in 1978. For 30 years he was a member of the Christ Lutheran Church and was an elected president of the Congregation Council. He was also a Cub Scout leader and was remembered for teaching how to make secure knots.

The Trail That Led Police To Rader’s Door:

Enclosed in a padded envelope sent to the KSAS-TV station in Wichita was a purple 1.44-megabyte Memorex computer disk that the FBI was able to trace to Rader. Also during this time a tissue sample of Rader’s daughter was seized and submitted for DNA testing. The sample was a familial match to the semen collected at one of the BTK crime scene.

The Arrest of Dennis Rader:

On February 25, 2005 Rader was stopped by authorities while in route to his home. At that point several law enforcement agencies converged on Rader’s home and began searching for evidence to link Rader to the BTK murders. They also searched the church he belonged to and his office at City Hall. Computers were removed at both his office and his home along with a pair of black pantyhose and a cylindrical container.

Rader is Charged With 10 BTK Murders:

On March 1, 2005 Dennis Rader was officially charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and his bond set at $10 million. Rader appeared before Judge Gregory Waller via video conference from his jail cell and listened to the 10 counts of murder read against him, while family members of his victims and some of his neighbors watched from the courtroom.

The victims

The victims

Family Response:

It is believed that Paula Rader, who has been described as a gentle and soft spoken woman, was shocked and devastated by the events that transpired with the arrest of her husband as were her two children. As of this writing, Mrs. Rader has not been to visit Dennis Rader in prison and she and her daughter are reportedly out of state in seclusion.

Update 1: On June 27, 2005, Dennis Rader plead guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder then calmly told the court the chilling details of the “Bind, Torture, Kill” slayings that terrorized the Wichita, Kansas area between 1974 and 1991.